Second trial in pig attack delayed

Clyde Thomas McFearin

The trial of an Effingham County man accused in the March 2013 attack on a pet pig is delayed as defense attorneys wait on a witness — the accused’s alleged accomplice.

Judge John Turner ordered a recess until Clyde McFearin’s attorneys can bring Benjamin Fullwood to court. Fullwood was sentenced last month to 10 years, with five years to serve in prison, for his role in the attack on Oliver, a domesticated pig that had gotten away from its owner’s property on Courthouse Road.

No date has been set to resume the trial.

Fullwood is awaiting transit to the state prison system, said assistant district attorney Brian Deal, who is prosecuting the case.

McFearin was charged with one count of aggravated cruelty to animals, one count of making a false statement and one count of obstructing a law enforcement officer.

Fullwood pled guilty in March. The attack on Oliver the pig was caught on video cameras.

Sheriff’s deputies said Fullwood incited two pit bull terriers to attack the pig, which had gotten away from its owner’s property on Courthouse Road and wandered into a nearby mobile home park.

As residents of the mobile home park tried to find the pig’s owner, Fullwood released two pit bulls on the pig and then stabbed it nearly two dozen times as bystanders, including children, watched.

Oliver the pig survived his wounds and has been a constant presence at local parades.